[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

http://sircharlesincharge.com/2010/08/30/1995-96-chicago-bulls-vs-2000-2001-los-angeles-lakers/

The NBA has some historic teams since it’s inception in 1946. I wondered, what if we could have some of these teams matchup? So I got help with whatifsports and there simulations and picked what is considered the best 2 teams in the history of the NBA. The 95-96 Chicago Bulls won 72 games and dominated the playoffs en route to a 4th NBA title. The 00-01 Lakers, led by the duo of Shaq and Kobe, were looking to cement the legacy with a repeat. Saying they dominated could be considered a understatement, going 15-1 in the playoffs and finals combined and another championship to thier name. Let’s look at both teams’ rotation.

1995-1996 Chicago Bulls

The legendary Bulls of 1995 had Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in there prime. Toni Kukoc was ahead of his time. A 6-10 shooter off the bench for Chicago. Steve Kerr was a long shooter, Ron Harper was a defensive point guard and between Luc Longley, Bill Wennington and Dennis Rodman, the Bulls were solid down low. The Bulls also had solid players on the end of the bench like John Salley, James Edwards and Randy Brown to take some cheap time.

2000-2001 Los Angeles Lakers

Many people would tell you: This is the greatest Lakers team in the three peat in the 2000’s. Shaquille O’ Neal (28.7 ppg and 12.7 rpg) and Kobe Bryant (28.5 ppg, 5.9rpg and 5.0apg) were on point as a dominant duo. Add to that: two clutch performers in Robert Horry and Derek Fisher. The Lakers bench was loaded as well. Horace Grant, Rick Fox, Brian Shaw and Ron Harper filled out the rotation.

My prediction: The Lakers win in 6. I feel Kobe could play well enough against Jordan. Shaq is the difference. The Lakers should be able to take the ball in the paint and handle the Bulls’ frontcourt. Here’s the simulation game by game with a little game info. The home team is the team listed first.

Game 1: Bulls 126, Lakers 117

Gametrack: Micheal Jordan had 51 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Kobe Bryant attacked back with 40 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. The key was Chicago’s bench and big men. Shaq had a good game (26p, 18r, 5a and 4blk) but the bench came up empty almost ( Horry- 7 points, Madsen-2 points, George-6 points). The Bulls got 6 points from Bill Wennington, 7 points from Dickey Simpson and Scottie Pippen also had 16 ponts, 12 rebounds and 8 assists.

Game 2: Bulls 91, Lakers 111

Gametrack: The Lakers return with a 20 point beatdown. Shaq gets 34 points and 20 rebounds while Kobe chips in with 24 points and 4 rebounds. Derek Fisher also scores 10 points, dishes out 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Micheal Jordan leads the Bulls in scoring with 34 points and 7 assists. The Bulls big men did not farewell against O’Neal. Luc Longley had 5 fouls in 24 minutes of action and Wennington had 2 in 12 minutes.

Game 3: Lakers 113, Bulls 100

Gametrack: Michael Jordan had 24 points, Scottie Pippen had 16 points, Dennis Rodman chip in with 10 points and 12 rebounds, Luc Longley rebounds from a terrible game 2 with 12 points, Randy Brown with 10 points and Toni Kukoc gives the Bulls 13 points yet it wasn’t enough. The Lakers took a 2-1 lead behind Kobe Bryant’s 27 points and 7 assists. O’Neal had a solid game on offense ( 18 points) and defense (11 rebounds and 6 blocks). Big shot Rob gave the Lakers 18 points. Isiah Rider sighting.
10 points in 9 minutes.

Game 4: Lakers 123, Bulls 118

Gametrack: In double OT, the Lakers squeeze by. O’Neal had a monster game: 46 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 blocks. Kobe Bryant wasn’t a slouch either with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Rick Fox also game up big with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Micheal Jordan (29p, 9r and 6a) and Scottie Pippen (31p, 5r and 8a) carried the Bulls but it wasn’t enough.

Game 5: Bulls 111, Lakers 104

Gametrack: The Bulls hold off elimination for a game. Micheal Jordan had 29 points and 7 rebounds. Scottie Pippen with a near triple double ( 24p, 13r and 9a) along with Ron Harper with 15 points, 4 rebounds 3 assists. Bryant had 26 points and 10 rebounds while O’Neal had a subpar game with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Game 6: Lakers 112, Bulls 115

Gametrack: The Bulls push for a game 7 with a 3 point victory. Jordan dominates with 29 points and 5 rebounds. Scottie Pippen again come through with another near triple double ( 21p, 7r and 10a). Dennis Rodman ( who’s had moster rebounding performances came through again with 17 rebounds ( 8 offensive). Unlike game 6, Shaq has a great game: 34 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. Kobe continues his solid pace with a triple double 28 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds.

Game 7: Bulls 98, Lakers 97

Gametrack: In Game 7, the Bulls eek out a win with (oddly) a game winning jumper from Dennis Rodman. Rodman had 11 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists. Micheal Jordan had 27 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Scottie Pippen had 27 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. O’Neal had another great game with 36 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks. The key to Chicago’s win was Jordan’s lockdown defense on Bryant. Bryant went 6/16 shooting, 12 points and 5 assists.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

1st of all Chicago would’nt have an answer for Shaq..Phil might try to use Rodman to get into Shaq’s head…2001 was when Kobe really begin to make his claim as 1 of the AllTime greats…It would be interesting to see Jackson runiing from bench to bench trying to coach both teams..something gotta give…lol

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

1st of all Chicago would’nt have an answer for Shaq..Phil might try to use Rodman to get into Shaq’s head…2001 was when Kobe really begin to make his claim as 1 of the AllTime greats…It would be interesting to see Jackson runiing from bench to bench trying to coach both teams..something gotta give…lol

[JoeWolf1]

I stopped reading when they said Dickey Simpkins chipped in 7 points off the bench. He wasn’t even on Chicago’s playoff roster that season.

Also RUDEBOY, Rodman totally took Shaq out of the equation during the Eastern Conference Finals that year, Shaq was a better player in 2001, but the worm could still get in his head. I’d also like to see Ron Harper guard himself. lol

[JoeWolf1]

I stopped reading when they said Dickey Simpkins chipped in 7 points off the bench. He wasn’t even on Chicago’s playoff roster that season.

Also RUDEBOY, Rodman totally took Shaq out of the equation during the Eastern Conference Finals that year, Shaq was a better player in 2001, but the worm could still get in his head. I’d also like to see Ron Harper guard himself. lol

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Hey, that’s why I posted it! I want opinions.

This is the first installment of it. I wanted to get this matchup out the way. Tell me more problems with it and I plan to fix the bugs!

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Hey, that’s why I posted it! I want opinions.

This is the first installment of it. I wanted to get this matchup out the way. Tell me more problems with it and I plan to fix the bugs!

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Question for you Mr.Knick..How did you create 3562 posts and have only 35 points?

u must have some serious HATERS ON HERE..

Or you created alot of posts that said OJ Simpson was Framed or Vanilla Ice was the best Rapper ever? lol

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Question for you Mr.Knick..How did you create 3562 posts and have only 35 points?

u must have some serious HATERS ON HERE..

Or you created alot of posts that said OJ Simpson was Framed or Vanilla Ice was the best Rapper ever? lol

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Question for you Mr.Knick..How did you create 3562 posts and have only 35 points?

Alots of arguing, knicks posts, realism and arguments. I made enough enimies to build a new forum wing titled “Who hates Mr. Knick?” and it would be loaded lol.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Question for you Mr.Knick..How did you create 3562 posts and have only 35 points?

Alots of arguing, knicks posts, realism and arguments. I made enough enimies to build a new forum wing titled “Who hates Mr. Knick?” and it would be loaded lol.

[billykParticipant]

Wait, a YOUNG Kobe would hold his own aganist Jordan in his PRIME??? Rodman has proved he would guard SHAQ and I think the Bulls team would keep SHAQ on the foul line.. I dont think Kobe would have been able to handle the defensive trio of Jordan, Pippen, and Ron Harper.. NOBODY on the Lakers would be able guard Pippen or Kukoc… The Bulls where a MUCH better defensive team than the Lakers…

[billykParticipant]

Wait, a YOUNG Kobe would hold his own aganist Jordan in his PRIME??? Rodman has proved he would guard SHAQ and I think the Bulls team would keep SHAQ on the foul line.. I dont think Kobe would have been able to handle the defensive trio of Jordan, Pippen, and Ron Harper.. NOBODY on the Lakers would be able guard Pippen or Kukoc… The Bulls where a MUCH better defensive team than the Lakers…

[iguapops420Participant]

jordan LOCKDOWN on bean. dont think so. as posted earlier, that was kobe truely coming into his own. stop living in the bulls gold. they were a great team truely. but they never had to go against teams that could match them in size/ athletic abilties. jordan had to go against the bryan russells and hersey hawkins’ of the world. 01 shaq was a different kind of beast than the one the bulls met in the east. no way any big even rodman could hang. and i truely wouldnt be surprised to c jordan bothered by beans d as it was at an all time level. he was shutting the best of em down then. lakers in 6.

[TylerTallenParticipant]

you DO realize that your argument is self-defeating, right? never had to go against teams that could match them in size/athletic ability works both ways, big fella. in fact, YOU’RE saying as much! the reasons that both these teams were a class above everyone else in the league was much because of being ahead of their respective times in multiple facets of the game.

my own opinion? Bulls in seven. that lakers team implodes with a not-yet matured Kobe trying to outduel MJ to show he can “hang.” 35 point on 35% shooting nights wouldn’t cut it against that Bulls team. not in any game seven. not ever.

[TylerTallenParticipant]

you DO realize that your argument is self-defeating, right? never had to go against teams that could match them in size/athletic ability works both ways, big fella. in fact, YOU’RE saying as much! the reasons that both these teams were a class above everyone else in the league was much because of being ahead of their respective times in multiple facets of the game.

my own opinion? Bulls in seven. that lakers team implodes with a not-yet matured Kobe trying to outduel MJ to show he can “hang.” 35 point on 35% shooting nights wouldn’t cut it against that Bulls team. not in any game seven. not ever.

[iguapops420Participant]

jordan LOCKDOWN on bean. dont think so. as posted earlier, that was kobe truely coming into his own. stop living in the bulls gold. they were a great team truely. but they never had to go against teams that could match them in size/ athletic abilties. jordan had to go against the bryan russells and hersey hawkins’ of the world. 01 shaq was a different kind of beast than the one the bulls met in the east. no way any big even rodman could hang. and i truely wouldnt be surprised to c jordan bothered by beans d as it was at an all time level. he was shutting the best of em down then. lakers in 6.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Igua…these are simulations brah. I did best of 7 for a reason lol.

Jordan in his prime against Kobe? No contest Kobe. It makes sense that Jordan locked him down in a deciding game.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Igua…these are simulations brah. I did best of 7 for a reason lol.

Jordan in his prime against Kobe? No contest Kobe. It makes sense that Jordan locked him down in a deciding game.

[sacphil_08Participant]

Really? The bulls never had to go against teams that could match them? Wow. I guess you didnt see them beat the new york knicks when they had patrick ewing in his prime, or how they beat the pistons who had a dynasty in place, or how they basically dethroned the lakers in 91, how they beat a charles barkley led phoenix suns team, a gary payton led sonics team, and two years in a row beat the karl malone/john stockton led utah jazz team. What people fail to realize is that michael jordan is the reason why alot of hall of fame guys do not have championship rings. Malone, stockton, barkley, ewing, clyde drexler had to be in houston when jordan wasnt playing to get his the list goes on. Kobe was just becoming one of the best players in the league and jordan was already established the best to ever do it once 96 came around. If it was the MVP kobe from a couple seasons ago it wouldve been a little different but if you want to compare teams when they were in those points in time the kobe vs mj talks are ridiculous. And yes jordan, pippen, and harper couldve guarded kobe. Chicago was a masterful defensive team. You fail to realize they are the only team to have 3 first team all defenders on one team EVER.

[sacphil_08Participant]

Really? The bulls never had to go against teams that could match them? Wow. I guess you didnt see them beat the new york knicks when they had patrick ewing in his prime, or how they beat the pistons who had a dynasty in place, or how they basically dethroned the lakers in 91, how they beat a charles barkley led phoenix suns team, a gary payton led sonics team, and two years in a row beat the karl malone/john stockton led utah jazz team. What people fail to realize is that michael jordan is the reason why alot of hall of fame guys do not have championship rings. Malone, stockton, barkley, ewing, clyde drexler had to be in houston when jordan wasnt playing to get his the list goes on. Kobe was just becoming one of the best players in the league and jordan was already established the best to ever do it once 96 came around. If it was the MVP kobe from a couple seasons ago it wouldve been a little different but if you want to compare teams when they were in those points in time the kobe vs mj talks are ridiculous. And yes jordan, pippen, and harper couldve guarded kobe. Chicago was a masterful defensive team. You fail to realize they are the only team to have 3 first team all defenders on one team EVER.

[Jlv2010]

Turrible!

[Jlv2010]

Turrible!

[iguapops420Participant]

yes j and the bulls beat a broken pistons dynsaty with a zeke who was hurt with an ankle injury, the laker led team had to turn magic into a scorer not facilitator b/c the second best option worthy was also hurt. sonics and jazz both left jordan on single coverage with bryon russell who was about as good a defender as matt barnes, and hersey hawkins who was about 2 inches shorter and gave up about 20 lbs. or how about the fact that in 97 a sophomore kobe hung 33 on j and pip off the bench. or how about when kobe told pip it was his last day of work as a blazer and went and put him out of the playoffs. pip got so frustrated he was tryin to swing on kobe’s ribs and what not. and to your talk about how many ppl mj caused to not get titles, same thing kobe is doing now. and again, what rodman did against shaq in the east finals would not have been able to occurr in 01. shaq had added about 30-35 lbs and was an unstoppable force. again. lakers in 6. not to mention the fact that ewing was able to be double and tripled not worrying about jon starks. jon starks is no kobe bryant. lets not forget how many 40-20 games shaq was puttin up.

[iguapops420Participant]

yes j and the bulls beat a broken pistons dynsaty with a zeke who was hurt with an ankle injury, the laker led team had to turn magic into a scorer not facilitator b/c the second best option worthy was also hurt. sonics and jazz both left jordan on single coverage with bryon russell who was about as good a defender as matt barnes, and hersey hawkins who was about 2 inches shorter and gave up about 20 lbs. or how about the fact that in 97 a sophomore kobe hung 33 on j and pip off the bench. or how about when kobe told pip it was his last day of work as a blazer and went and put him out of the playoffs. pip got so frustrated he was tryin to swing on kobe’s ribs and what not. and to your talk about how many ppl mj caused to not get titles, same thing kobe is doing now. and again, what rodman did against shaq in the east finals would not have been able to occurr in 01. shaq had added about 30-35 lbs and was an unstoppable force. again. lakers in 6. not to mention the fact that ewing was able to be double and tripled not worrying about jon starks. jon starks is no kobe bryant. lets not forget how many 40-20 games shaq was puttin up.

[billykParticipant]

Sooo a young Kobe would be able to go head to head with Jordan in his PRIME (the same Jodan who was dropping 20 ppg as a 40 year old)… NO WAY Kobe in his early 20’s (who was NOT in his prime) can go head to head with MJ (in his early 30s in his PRIME) in a 7 game championship series….

[billykParticipant]

Sooo a young Kobe would be able to go head to head with Jordan in his PRIME (the same Jodan who was dropping 20 ppg as a 40 year old)… NO WAY Kobe in his early 20’s (who was NOT in his prime) can go head to head with MJ (in his early 30s in his PRIME) in a 7 game championship series….

[iguapops420Participant]

no. this isnt a kobe vs. mj debate. its a laker vs. bulls debate. and shaqs dominance would have either made doubles and triples come at him leaving kobe to get his, or shaq would have been eating someone alive 1v1. and lets not act like mj dropping 20 a game at 40 was something amazing seeing as tho he was rated as the least efficient scorer that year. not to mention the fact that those lakers caused the league to change the rules completely.shaq was able to just stand in the paint and clog it up on d. and if we really want to get a good debate going, why are we comparing those deep bulls teams to the kobe,shaq and the meary minimum group. why even have this debate. as undeep as those laker teams were, i still dont see how anyone stops shaq. which in turn again leads to a dominant kobe.

im throwing facts, anyone wanna send facts back instead of simple, mj prime takes kobe.

(dont forget that in 01 derek fisher was setting records for 3 point shooting in playoffs whos gonna double off him? 51.5% from deep.)

[iguapops420Participant]

no. this isnt a kobe vs. mj debate. its a laker vs. bulls debate. and shaqs dominance would have either made doubles and triples come at him leaving kobe to get his, or shaq would have been eating someone alive 1v1. and lets not act like mj dropping 20 a game at 40 was something amazing seeing as tho he was rated as the least efficient scorer that year. not to mention the fact that those lakers caused the league to change the rules completely.shaq was able to just stand in the paint and clog it up on d. and if we really want to get a good debate going, why are we comparing those deep bulls teams to the kobe,shaq and the meary minimum group. why even have this debate. as undeep as those laker teams were, i still dont see how anyone stops shaq. which in turn again leads to a dominant kobe.

im throwing facts, anyone wanna send facts back instead of simple, mj prime takes kobe.

(dont forget that in 01 derek fisher was setting records for 3 point shooting in playoffs whos gonna double off him? 51.5% from deep.)

[iguapops420Participant]

and before i hear the talks about stopping ewing so they could stop shaq, we can just put that to rest as ewing shot plenty of jumpers and finessed almost everything. no force or physicality. which is something 01 shaq brought. for that one year, shaq was the mde. so its moreso shaq vs. mj, kobe vs. pip. not kobe vs. mj.

[iguapops420Participant]

and before i hear the talks about stopping ewing so they could stop shaq, we can just put that to rest as ewing shot plenty of jumpers and finessed almost everything. no force or physicality. which is something 01 shaq brought. for that one year, shaq was the mde. so its moreso shaq vs. mj, kobe vs. pip. not kobe vs. mj.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Igua

Who’s stopping Pippen or Kukoc? Pippen could score 18-20 and then go around and defend Kobe to leave Jordan rested to score. The Bulls had different looks inside to throw at O’Neal

In the 7 game simulation, O’Neal had 6 great games but they had no answer for Pippen.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

Igua

Who’s stopping Pippen or Kukoc? Pippen could score 18-20 and then go around and defend Kobe to leave Jordan rested to score. The Bulls had different looks inside to throw at O’Neal

In the 7 game simulation, O’Neal had 6 great games but they had no answer for Pippen.

[billykParticipant]

The point is Jordan would DOMINATE the 4th quarter… Kobe would have the assignment to STOP Jordan and I believe Jordan would be the person guarding Kobe, so the match up between them would be important… I believe the Bulls had would “contain: Shaq by keeping him on the foul line and playin multiple defenders aganist him.. Fisher would have a hella of a time getting the Lakers in their offense with Pippen hounding him full court… Also, most of the games would be close in the 4th and the Bulls had the ultimate closer…

[billykParticipant]

The point is Jordan would DOMINATE the 4th quarter… Kobe would have the assignment to STOP Jordan and I believe Jordan would be the person guarding Kobe, so the match up between them would be important… I believe the Bulls had would “contain: Shaq by keeping him on the foul line and playin multiple defenders aganist him.. Fisher would have a hella of a time getting the Lakers in their offense with Pippen hounding him full court… Also, most of the games would be close in the 4th and the Bulls had the ultimate closer…

[boxn1Participant]

Lakers advantage -Shaq

Bulls advantage-Better gaurds,wings,and Kukoc off the bench.

No knock on the lakers gaurds and wings,or to the bulls bigmen (including Rodman),bulls in 6,close competitive games,but bulls have great closers

[boxn1Participant]

Lakers advantage -Shaq

Bulls advantage-Better gaurds,wings,and Kukoc off the bench.

No knock on the lakers gaurds and wings,or to the bulls bigmen (including Rodman),bulls in 6,close competitive games,but bulls have great closers

[iguapops420Participant]

robert horry, rick fox, derek fisher. those guys are some of the worst closers of all time.

why would pip be guarding fish? and lets not forget that fisher would have matched up against kerr. not pip. and lets see if memory serves me correctly theres another guy 6’10 deadeye shooter who in prime was bettr than kukoc and if memory serves me correcly a guy named rick fox locked him down while peja was the playoffs leading scorer. pip is the key i give you, but youre truely underestimating the difference in size. those two teams are quite similar in size and athleticism on the perimeter, down low is a completely different story. stop acting as if mj’s greatness was what propelled them everytime. not quite the case. mj was human, just as kobe is. whats this about kob imploding. not in 01, he was all about winning. the ego didnt come out until the following year and even then it was over by playoffs.

and why is this argument even going on. if everyone was just going to hear that mj was involved and automatically give him the win. im bored of this its clear facts dont work on here.

[iguapops420Participant]

robert horry, rick fox, derek fisher. those guys are some of the worst closers of all time.

why would pip be guarding fish? and lets not forget that fisher would have matched up against kerr. not pip. and lets see if memory serves me correctly theres another guy 6’10 deadeye shooter who in prime was bettr than kukoc and if memory serves me correcly a guy named rick fox locked him down while peja was the playoffs leading scorer. pip is the key i give you, but youre truely underestimating the difference in size. those two teams are quite similar in size and athleticism on the perimeter, down low is a completely different story. stop acting as if mj’s greatness was what propelled them everytime. not quite the case. mj was human, just as kobe is. whats this about kob imploding. not in 01, he was all about winning. the ego didnt come out until the following year and even then it was over by playoffs.

and why is this argument even going on. if everyone was just going to hear that mj was involved and automatically give him the win. im bored of this its clear facts dont work on here.

[iguapops420Participant]

a little off-topic. but what does everyone think of this years lakers vs. those bulls. i think that is a more balanced debate.

[iguapops420Participant]

a little off-topic. but what does everyone think of this years lakers vs. those bulls. i think that is a more balanced debate.

[billykParticipant]

Phil Jackson usually put Pippen on the other teams PG to disrupt their offense, thats why he would guard Fisher.. Fisher would have to guard Ron Harper since he was the Bulls starting PG.. The point is the games would be close in the 4th and the Bulls would run their offense through Jordan (greatest closer of all time) and the Lakers would be going through Shaq???

[billykParticipant]

Phil Jackson usually put Pippen on the other teams PG to disrupt their offense, thats why he would guard Fisher.. Fisher would have to guard Ron Harper since he was the Bulls starting PG.. The point is the games would be close in the 4th and the Bulls would run their offense through Jordan (greatest closer of all time) and the Lakers would be going through Shaq???

[billykParticipant]

MJ was the catalyst… 6-0 all time in the Finals, btw the Bulls where are far superior defense team..

[billykParticipant]

MJ was the catalyst… 6-0 all time in the Finals, btw the Bulls where are far superior defense team..

[NYK2010Participant]

Both these teams were good defensively, the Bulls were much better though.
Kobe wasn’t that great yet in 2001 definately no where near Jordan’s class.

[NYK2010Participant]

Both these teams were good defensively, the Bulls were much better though.
Kobe wasn’t that great yet in 2001 definately no where near Jordan’s class.

[iguapops420Participant]

ron harper was the stater for la.

[iguapops420Participant]

ron harper was the stater for la.

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